legal aid Archives - LEGAL S.O.S

25Jul 2023 by Charles E. Price

Legal Aid DC Reopens Anacostia Office

Legal Aid of the District of Columbia recently announced that it will reopen its offices in Ward 8 in Southeast that were suspended in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Legal Aid office was in the Anacostia Professional Building, also known as the Big Chair, until DC Mayor Muriel Bowser instituted the public health emergency that shuttered many businesses and nonprofits in the District in March 2020. With the emergency lifted a few months ago, the organization's leadership decided to rebuild its community contacts and reinstalling the Anacostia office became a priority. “We're thrilled to reopen our Big Chair location and increase access to free, in-person legal services for District residents who live or work east of the river,” said Vikram Swaruup, executive director of the organization. “Ultimately, we…

24Jul 2023 by Charles E. Price

Abraham Leser’s 111 Livingston Delinquent on $120M Loan

LEGAL

Abraham Leser's firm fell behind on debt payments at 111 Livingston Street after two tenants, Brooklyn Law School and the Legal Aid Society, went on rent strike and sued Leser over delayed maintenance at the Downtown Brooklyn office building. Court records indicate that months of back rent accumulated, possibly hindering the Leser Group's ability to service its debt. Leser became delinquent on the property's $120 million loan in May, then missed June's payment, Morningstar data shows. As of July, Morningstar marked the loan current but the debt remains watchlisted. Louis Solomon of Reed Smith, which is representing Leser in the lawsuit, confirmed that the loan is performing. “The normal operations between the bank and the company are fully in place,” Solomon wrote in an email. The building's occupancy rate dropped…

17Jul 2023 by Charles E. Price

Legal aid cuts denying vulnerable women access to justice, says thinktank | Legal aid

LEGAL

Vulnerable women in England and Wales, including survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, are being denied justice because of cuts to the civil legal aid budget, a think tank has said.The Women's Budget Group says a decade on from major changes to legal aid, women have been disproportionately affected, leaving them without essential support to fight discrimination, violence and housing insecurity.For its report, Gender Gaps in Access to Civil Legal Justice, published on Thursday, the think tank conducted an online survey of 115 organizations, services and individuals in the field and found widespread concern about barriers to justice.It found that 85% of respondents said vulnerable women were unable to access civil legal aid, while 77% said a significant consequence of the legal aid changes was women reaching crisis points or…

16Jul 2023 by Charles E. Price

Demand for free civil legal aid in Michigan outweighs attorneys

LEGAL

Kelisha Williams has been trying to get a divorce for five years and said it has been a long and expensive endeavor. Last fall, when a car accident left her unable to work and without steady income, she couldn't afford a lawyer.The cost for legal representation, according to estimates Williams received: between $8,000 to $10,000. But earlier this year, a 3rd Circuit Court judge referred her to the William Booth Legal Aid Clinic — the Salvation Army's only free legal service provider in the world, serving low-income metro Detroit residents — and she's now hopeful she'll get to a resolution. The 47-year-old Detroiter said it was a relief the court told her about the clinic because otherwise she likely would have been waiting for someone to call her back or…

15Jul 2023 by Charles E. Price

The state budget gives one-time boost to programs that give poor Mainers legal aid in civil cases

LEGAL

The newly signed state budget includes a one-time $4 million boost for a program that provides low-income Mainers with legal representation in civil cases – a big addition to the baseline $650,000 the program currently receives each year. But the funding in the budget is significantly less than what the Legislature approved. Lawmakers passed a bill, sponsored by Anne Carney, D-Cape Elizabeth, that called for an $11 million investment over two years and an ongoing appropriation of $7.8 million a year – and was projected to help an estimated 10,000 additional Mainers. Carney, an attorney who used to volunteer with a nonprofit that provides legal services, said she was pleased that her bill received funding, even though increasing the baseline funding would offer more stability to people needing legal help.…

10Jul 2023 by Charles E. Price

Legal Aid plans phone clinic

LEGAL

Legal Aid is holding a free Legal Aid Phone Clinic for residents of their eight-county district on Tuesday. The district includes Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson, Rush, and Shelby counties. The phone clinic will be held from 3 to 5:30 pm although registration is required between noon and 2 pm The Legal Aid Clinic and Pro Bono Program utilizes local volunteer attorneys, offering free legal consultations to low-income individuals to provide equal access to justice within our communities for those who might not otherwise be able to afford the counsel of an attorney. Individuals calling to the Legal Aid Phone Clinic can expect to receive a brief consultation to answer general and eviction questions, offer legal information, or to receive other limited pro se assistance or advice, over the…

07Jul 2023 by Charles E. Price

Vermont Law School opens immigration, criminal justice legal aid clinic downtown

LEGAL

Vermont Law and Graduate School now has a larger presence in downtown Burlington.The school received a $975,000 federal grant, secured by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to combine their immigration legal aid clinic and broader justice reform work into the Center for Justice Reform Clinic, which will be in their new downtown Burlington office.The office, on the fourth floor of 126 College St., officially opened June 22, a milestone marked by a ribbon cutting and speeches by the mayor, the president of Vermont Law and Graduate School and the dean of the law school.Mayor Miro Weinberger and Rod Smolla, president of Vermont Law and Graduate School, cut the ribbon to officially open the school's downtown location. The office will be the home of the school's new Center for Justice Reform Clinic,…

04Jul 2023 by Charles E. Price

There’s a big lack of lawyers taking Legal Aid cases these days

LEGAL

Breadcrumb Trail Links News Local News Published July 03, 2023 • Last updated 8 hours ago • 5 minute read Family lawyer Lisa DeLong says her firm has stopped taking family-related Legal Aid cases and the area is severely lacking anyone to pick them up. SUBMITTED Article content Can't find a lawyer to take your case? Blame Legal Aid Ontario, says a local lawyer. Advertisements 2 This advertisement has not been loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content “Sometimes we have people walk into our office and start crying when we tell them we do not take Legal Aid (cases) anymore, as they've called every family lawyer in the city and been told the same thing,” says lawyer Lisa DeLong , of DeLong Law. DeLong used to take…

28Jun 2023 by Charles E. Price

Why legal aid matters | opinion

LEGAL

When I speak to civic groups about Alpine Legal Services, I'm surprised how many people have heard of us but aren't sure what we do.People also tell me they don't realize the right to legal representation applies mostly to criminal cases. They didn't know that those facing a life-altering civil legal matter — an eviction, a protection order from abuse and violence, a custody case, an emergency guardianship — are most often not entitled to an attorney. That's where civil legal aid comes in. That's what we do.Alpine Legal Services has been around in one form or another since 1987. A group of lawyers saw the need to uphold justice for people who had strong cases but didn't know how to present them and couldn't afford to hire an attorney.…

25Jun 2023 by Charles E. Price

Courts see a boost in salaries, tech funding: Civil legal aid also sees a boost in funds for the coming fiscal year

LEGAL

The state's multibillion-dollar biennial budget enacted during the 2023 legislative session includes increasing all around for the satay's judiciary, including additional funding for including civil legal aid, salaries and court technology. The funding for fiscal years 2023-2024 will take effect July 1. Indiana Supreme Court The final budget bill allocates $21,841,985 to the Supreme Court in FY 2023-2024 and $22,330,232 in FY 2024-2025. That's an increase from $19,400,605 in FY 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. In a letter to lawmakers at the beginning of the 2023 budget session, Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush made her case for budget increases. “Indiana's judicial branch budget accounts for less than 1% of the state's total budget,” she wrote. “We're proud of that, and we don't ask for it very much very often. We've operated efficiently…

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